


The part of me that's you will never die

by limit_breaker



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dementia, M/M, Old Age, kind of? maybe? depending on your world view?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:36:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27100570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/limit_breaker/pseuds/limit_breaker
Summary: Old Kylux in exile finally meet their ends. There are things more difficult than death.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 20
Kudos: 101





	The part of me that's you will never die

**Author's Note:**

> uhhh... hi!  
> support fictional fascists, never real ones.  
> go vote (if applicable).  
> wear a mask.  
> wash your hands.  
> R&R no flames.

"The patient in room V-94 needs meds."

"Mmm, that the Jawa with the Mubiaan skin disease?"

"No, the human with age-related neuro-cognitive deterioration. He's being exceptionally delirious today. Keeps asking for Kylo Ren."

"Kylo Ren? That warlord who tried taking over the galaxy back in the 30s?"

"Yep. Claims he's his husband."

"Oh, wow. Ha. That's a new one."

"Never the same day twice around here."

"You can say that again. All right. I'll send a droid in with extra sedatives and have it do a blood draw."

"Thanks, by the way, you coming to the potluck next week?"

//

This room is not familiar. He doesn't know where he is or how he got here. Not sure why he's wearing these clothes, but he vaguely recalls being told to keep them on by one of these... people. His captives in this strange, pristine place. He's hooked up to some sort of monitor, which is absolutely intolerable. He rips the wiring from a patch on his chest and immediately he's assaulted by a loud beeping from one of these infernal machines.

He used to know something about machines. Maybe if he could just _remember_ he could turn it off, make it stop making noise. Maybe he could escape from this place.

Somewhere inside him, he knows he has what it takes to outsmart these captors and get out of here. But he doesn't know who they are, or even where this place is. And, deeper down, that terrifies him.

Where did his memories go? How long has he been here, like this? And where in the nineteen rings of Nantoon is Kylo Ren?

He should be here. He swore to protect him. They swore to protect each other. Unless that never happened and they hated each other still? He's pretty sure that happened... No, that definitely happened, but other things happened, too.

"I need to speak to Kylo Ren," he announces to the ensign who's walked in with some droid hovering behind.

"Well," the ensign replies, focusing more on fiddling with the beeping machine than actually giving Hux the attention he ought to command as General. (Is he a General?) "Afraid that's not going to happen, buddy."

"I'm not your buddy, and you cannot speak to me like that. I'll have you sent for Reconditioning. Now I demand to speak to Kylo Ren, see that it happens at once."

The ensign, who looks more like an orderly, Hux supposes-- oh, he's not supposed to be Armitage Hux anymore-- he's been using the alias Sloane Arkan since going into secret exile after the fall of the First Order... he still forgets sometimes although it's been decades-- anyway, the orderly is giving him a pitying but exasperated look. As if this isn't the first time they've had this conversation. (What was the conversation about, again?) His bones ache. He's tired.

"Well, Kylo Ren's not here right now, so just sit tight while I get your vitals."

"Where has he gone? I need to... I need..." sighing, he rests his head back against the pillow. He can't remember the word for what he wants, and he's forgetting what he was even trying to say. It was important, though. It's always important. He's so tired.

"I used to be so good with words," he says instead, "grand speeches, holos, all of it."

"Is that so?" Says the medic, wholly uninterested.

"It is," Hux replies anyway, almost defensive at this point. "Kylo used to mock me for it," he smiles to himself, "the arse."

"Mm, Kylo Ren doesn't sound very nice, does he?"

"Oh, stars, no. He was insufferable. But that was all before. I suppose he wasn't particularly nice after, either, but I didn't mind. I wasn't exceptionally kind myself. We made it work, though."

"All right, hon."

"You don't believe me."

"Hon, Kylo Ren's been dead for about 60 years, and I'm pretty sure he was too busy terrorizing the galaxy while he was alive to have much time for romance and marriage. Good riddance if you ask me. Galaxy's been much better off without those First Order fascists. Could you imagine if they'd won? But it's okay, if you want to say you're married to Kylo Ren, that's fine by me, sweetie!"

Hux-- Arkan-- feels his heart start racing. What does this man know about Kylo Ren and the First Order. Surely he doesn't know the truth if he believes Ren died at the battle of Exegol, as the history books have it written. After all, it's only fringe conspiracy theorists who postulate (know) that Ren, and Hux, both survived the fall and continue to live in exile under forged identities. Or. Well. At least. They did.

Tears prick his eyes. He just remembered something. He shakes his head. "No. Kylo Ren died last month," he says, suddenly recalling how it had felt to hold Kylo in his arms as he took his final, shuddering breath.

The medic glances up from the machine with another barely-masked look of exasperation. "Battle of Exegol, yeah? You back in 35 BBY again, hey?"

"No. I know what year it is. I know who I am."

_"Hux?"_

Startled to hear the sound of his name-- his real name-- he turns to see someone sitting on the foot of his bed. Someone he thought he would never see again.

"Hey," Ren says with his lopsided grin. His skin is translucent and blue-hued, younger than it's looked in ages, but every feature is a perfect match, and no one else in the entirety of the galaxy could imitate this inexplicable man in all of his infinite oddities. It must be him. A wave of relief Hux didn't even realize he needed washes over him.

"Ben!"

"I'm here, Hux. Well. Kind of."

"What's going on, Ren? And can I call you Ren here?" He lowers his voice to a hushed whisper. "Do these people know who we are?"

_[Who you talking to, buddy?]_

"They wouldn't believe you even if you told them."

Hux looks back up at the medic, "My name is General Armitage Hux. I command the First Order's most powerful army and I am talking to my husband, Kylo Ren, dark lord and Master of the Knights of Ren."

"Oh, okay, hon. Just sit tight, the droid will be in with your meal shortly." The medic pats his shoulder and walks to the other side of his bed, checking a different monitor and completely ignoring the man sitting at Hux's feet.

Hux turns back to find Ren still smiling sadly. "Told you."

"Am I dying?"

_[Not on my shift, hopefully! Too much paperwork! Haha, I'm just kidding!]_

"Sort of. You're old now, Hux. Your mind isn't functioning right anymore."

"So I'm hallucinating." His heart sinks. He's not sure what's worse at this point: admitting that he's become completely delirious with age or the idea that Kylo isn't really here with him now.

_[It's okay, hon! We're here to take care of you.]_

Ren just shrugs.

"How long have I been this way?"

_[You've been here about three weeks. You showed up all alone, no identifications or anything. Just yourself, a change of clothes, and a sack of credits, asking to check in. We tried asking about your next of kin, but you said you didn't have any and all our searches have come up empty so far. Have you remembered someone who knows you?]_

"A while, Hux. It got worse after I passed, but even when I was still alive, there were times when you didn't recognize me. Didn't remember we'd made amends," a sad look crosses his face, he swallows. "That we'd fallen in love."

"What?" Hux exclaims, taken aback. "I could never forget something like that!"

"You did, sometimes," Ren says. "And every time, it broke my heart."

"I... I don't remember."

"I know. It's just how the disease works. It takes the best of you away first. I tried not to take it too personally. I knew you were suffering, too. But. Well, you know how I am," he says with sardonic look. He sighs and looks away. "It was harder watching you not be able to do all the things that once came so naturally to you. And even worse knowing that you _knew_ what was happening in your more lucid moments, and you knew-- we both knew-- there wasn't a thing that could be done about it."

Hux shuts his eyes a moment, trying to recall what life had been like just before Kylo had passed. He remembers being frustrated with himself more often than not, losing things frequently, struggling to perform basic tasks and being angry, always. He reopens his eyes, trying to express to Ren how sorry his is for all of this.

"Ren," he says, "you were the best and most important thing that ever happened to me. Perhaps not right away, but eventually, anyway."

Kylo smiles sadly. "We had a rough start."

"And a rough middle," Hux adds.

"And a rough end," concludes Ren.

"I'm... sorry."

_[It's okay, buddy, you're fine.]_

"No, don't be. We deserved every bad thing we got, and so much more. But we were lucky. We spent the best years of our lives in each other's company, and that's something I wouldn't trade, even if I could."

"Even if it brought back the Hosnian system and all those innocents we slaughtered in the name of galactic domination?" Hux asks wryly.

"I love you Hux, and I'll see you again very soon."

_[Mr Arkan? Hello? Can you hear me?]_

"Ren. I don't have the Force. What will happen to me?"

"Do you ever listen to me? I've told you. You can't _command_ the Force, but everyone, every living thing, has it. It's in us all. It connects us. Now that I've passed on, I believe it and feel it more than ever. Don't worry, Hux. There is a part of you that's me, and we will remain connected, no matter what."

"I'm... scared, Ren."

_[SLOANE? MR ARKAN? Oh, kark, someone call the doctor, he's coding!]_

"I know. It's all right, Hux."

The voices in the background grow distant, but he hears someone say: _He signed a DNR when he checked himself in, just let him go._

"Be with me?" Hux extends his hand towards Ren, and Ren reciprocates.

"Always."


End file.
